Five Tips for Cooking With Chocolate
April 5, 2010
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Miami
• 0 Comments
Five Tips for Cooking With Chocolate
Chocolate, an all around favorite, must be treated delicately. When cooking with chocolate even the slightest error could destroy your hopes for a delicious dessert. Here are five tips to ensure your chocolate cooking experience goes well.
Chocolate Cooking Tip #1 – Control the Heat
Two words: Double boiler.
When melting chocolate, don’t let the chocolate get too hot too fast. The best way to control this is to melt the chocolate using a double boiler. If you aren’t stocked with one, then fill a large pot with water and set a smaller pot inside the first.
Now it’s time to get things melted. Cut the chocolate into pieces and place them in the pot (the pot without any water). Turn the burner on so that it puts out low to medium heat. Make sure to continuously stir the chocolate to keep the heat evenly distributed.
Chocolate Cooking Tip #2 – Water is Not Your Friend
If you add water to chocolate, it will “seize” or harden and change from a smooth texture to a rough texture. To prevent this from happening, make sure your pot and your utensils are completely dry. If you need to add moisture to the chocolate, choose vegetable shortening instead.
Chocolate Cooking Tip #3 – Make it Healthy
There’s no point in lying: chocolate is not all that good for you. But, there is good news. Dark chocolate contains antioxidants, which fight off all the harmful free radicals in the environment that lead to disease and aging. When cooking with chocolate, choose bittersweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate over milk chocolate or white chocolate.
Chocolate Cooking Tip #4 – Avoid the Bloom
When chocolate gets too warm, the cocoa butter will separate and produce a white filmy layer called a bloom. The bloom is not bad for you, and the chocolate is certainly still edible, but it won’t have the same richness and creaminess as it once did. To prevent bloom, wrap chocolate tightly and store chocolate in a dry, cool (under 60 degrees Fahrenheit) place.
Chocolate Cooking Tip #5 – Don’t Forget the Garnish
Chocolate is a great garnish to any dessert plate. Chocolate sauce, chocolate sticks, and cocoa powder can bring a dessert plate up a notch, not just in flavor, but in presentation. Chocolate sprinkles are also a nice touch. Simply use a vegetable peeler or a grater to make chocolate shavings and “curly q’s.”
These tips are just the tip of the chocolate bar. There are hundreds of recipes and dozens of methods for cooking with chocolate. We recommend you try them all to find the most delicious.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami offers Le Cordon Bleu culinary education classes and culinary training programs in Miami, Florida. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit http://www.Chefs.edu/Miami for more information. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Miami does not guarantee employment or salary.